The Buffalo, a heavily armored wheeled vehicle and its mine-destroying 30-ft robotic arm was designed by Force Protection Inc., Ladson, S.C., and is based on wheeled armor vehicles used by South Africa in the 1970s. Those vehicles had V-shaped hulls or undercarriages rather than the flat bottoms common on other military trucks and transports. The 22-ton Buffalo's V-hull, armor, and sheer weight combine to withstand mine explosions. The Buffalo's specially shaped undercarriage not only deflects the explosion, but absorbs some of the impact, which can damage suspension components. Even if an explosion is strong enough to flip the Buffalo on its back or start it rolling, the vehicle was built to take it. The driver, codriver and 12 passengers are protected by four-point racing-style seat belts. On 'hunter killer' missions, when the crew purposely drives the vehicle into harm's way looking for bombs, they are protected by armor and glass that can shrug off 7.62-mm rounds. Once the crew arrives at a suspected bomb site, the robotic arm with its rakelike attachment finds and explodes any mines or homemade explosives. A camera with a night-vision option lets soldiers safely inside the vehicle see what the retractable claw is doing. The Buffalo is powered by a 450-hp Al-400 diesel from Mack that gives the vehicle a top speed of 65 mph. The engine is also strong enough to get the Buffalo home on run-flat tires after taking a hit. An 85-gallon gas tank lets the vehicle travel 382 miles. The Buffalo's armored glass gives soldiers an expansive view of the terrain around them. Force Protection also makes a downsized version of the Buffalo, the Cougar. It comes in four and six-wheeled versions and has been used by the Marines in Iraq since last fall. The six-wheeler weighs 18.5 tons and is built to withstand medium-sized explosions such as those from mines and roadside bombs. It is used mostly for transport, but can also serve as a mine hunter, a command and control center, or an ambulance. Force Protection says nobody has been seriously injured while riding in one of their vehicles in Iraq. Force Protection's next-generation prototype, nicknamed the Lion, is said to weigh no more than 7 tons but still offer the same level of protection as the Cougar.


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    Title :

    Tough enough to take on land mines


    Published in:

    Machine Design ; 77 , 21 ; 20-23


    Publication date :

    2005


    Size :

    2 Seiten, 2 Bilder, 1 Tabelle



    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Print


    Language :

    English




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